


Message Alerts (Sing Your Name)

by SterlingAg



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Messenger, Strangers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 06:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9059200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SterlingAg/pseuds/SterlingAg
Summary: Katsuki Yuuri starts talking to someone online and promises to meet them at an upcoming convention in Tokyo. Does he get more than he bargains for?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seamanthedog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seamanthedog/gifts).



> Merry Christmas! This is my first YOI fic! I hope to continue to journey into this fandom.

 

The alarm screamed shrill notes into the early morning air. Yuuri Katsuki groaned, hand groping about his bedside table. Finally he slammed his fist down on the snooze button. He snuggled back down into his blanket and closed his eyes. Sunlight had yet to stream into his room at the hour. A gentle snow was falling against his window as winter finally made its way down to Hasetsu. Not twenty minutes later Yuuri’s phone chimed. The alert sound was that of an ice skate chipping the ice as a skater took off for a jump. It woke Yuuri completely.

He threw his hand to the bedside table. His hand clamped around his phone and he sat up. Blinking against the blue light of the screen, he swiped it open. A new message notification had popped up. It was letting him know he had received a new private message on a forum that he participated in. Yuuri opened the app and felt a smile tugging at his lip when he saw the sender.

 _New Message from_ **_quadflipvik_ **

**quadflipvik:** they posted the con dates! have you looked yet? )

Yuuri hit reply.

 **KatsudOnIce _:_** I just woke up! Where are the dates?

 **_quadflipvik_ ** _sent you a link!_  
****

**quadflipvik:** i’m thinking about going to a few of them. there should be some good panels this year. i hear they want to have a coaches panel and maybe even a few past world champs!

 **KatsudOnIce:** Wow really?? I’ll definitely look at it later.

 **quadflipvik:** it would be good if we could finally meet too ))

Yuuri stared down at his phone, feeling a blush crawl up his neck. He knew he probably looked ridiculous smiling down at his phone.

 **KatsudOnIce:** I would really like that.

Unable to take anymore, he closed the app and put the phone down. It didn’t chime at him again  so he thought that the other person must have also moved on. Since there weren’t any more distractions, there was no reason for Yuuri to stay in bed. With a groan, he swung his legs out from under his blanket and stood from his bed. The tatami mats on the floor were cold in the early morning and he quickly slid into the poodle slippers nearby. He shuffled over to his closet and pulled out some work clothes. A bandana was wrapped around his head to keep his hair out of his eyes while he did the morning chores.

Yuuri’s family owned one of the last operating ryokans in the area. The inn was situated in an area with natural hot springs. Because of the springs, they were able to stay in business. It gave them something that the competitors didn’t and thus a leg up. They offered outdoor as well as indoor baths. So Yuuri had to clean the indoor baths every night and prepare them each morning. It was hard work, but it was rewarding when he knew that he was able to offer a small comfort to the people who visited their baths.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Yuuri folded himself under the kotatsu. He sighed into the warmth of the heater and snuggled in the blanket.

“It’s so cold in the morning now.” His mother, Hiroko said. She began to set the table for breakfast.

“Let me help—“ Yuuri said, starting to come out from under the table.

She shook her head. “No no, you’ve done enough work already this morning. You even cleaned the women’s baths.”

“Mari’s sick, it can’t be helped.”

“Breakfast will be ready in a moment. I’ll go call your father.”

“Is he sweeping the front?”

“You know he loves talking to people in the morning.”

Yuuri frowned and rested his cheek on the table’s warmed surface. “He isn’t young anymore. He should let me do the work and he can just talk to people.”

She smiled softly at him before ruffling his hair fondly. “You’re very good to your family Yuuri. I hope you’re also making sure to take care of yourself. Will you visit Yuuko-chan today?”

“I haven’t been able to go to the rink for a few days now. I’m sure she thinks I’ve run off again.”

“Don’t make her worry.” Hiroko said as she moved towards the front of the inn.

He pulled his phone from one of the deep pockets of his work pants. There was a new message waiting for him.

 **_quadflipvik_ ** _sent you a video!_  
****

**quadflipvik:** you were looking for the free skate from the junior division finals right? this is the best video i’ve found of it! sorry its in russian but you're just watching anyway )

Yuuri smiled and opened the link that he’d been sent earlier. He scrolled quickly through the convention’s dates and locations. There were a couple in Europe, one in North America, a few in Russia, and one in Japan. He clicked further into the dates in Japan and found that it would be hosted in Tokyo. It was still early enough that he could get good prices on a Shinkansen ticket too if he booked now. Although he wouldn’t want to stay in Tokyo for the entire time—maybe just one night in a capsule hotel.

 **KatsudOnIce:** I can probably attend the Tokyo convention. Not for all three days though. Hotels in the Tokyo area are expensive. Is Japan far from where you are?

 **quadflipvik:** it’s a 6hr time difference

Yuuri’s eyebrows rose slightly at that. It would explain why he was getting messages at strange times when they didn’t sync up. His phone vibrated in his hand.

 **quadflipvik:** i’ve never been to tokyo before. the flight would be worth it if i got to see you )

When his mother came back into the room, she looked at her son. He was laying on his back, hiding his face under his phone. There was pink dusting the tips of his ears. She only laughed quietly to herself before disappearing into the kitchen.

 

After opening up the baths, Yuuri grabbed his backpack. His skates, gloves, water bottle and bluetooth speaker were inside. It was always prepared and waiting by the door should he ever need to run out quickly. Stuffing his feet into his shoes, he wrapped his scarf tighter around his face.

“I’m off!” he called.

“Have a safe trip!” was the response from his mother and a few patrons mulling about.

The outside air was cold and Yuuri paused to rub his hands together. His breath came out in visible puffs. He thought about getting his bike out of the garage but instead just started his way down the road. It was really only about a 20 minute walk to the rink and it would do him good to get the exercise in. Going across the bridge, the ocean was still and a thin layer of ice had gathered at the shoreline. Yuuri watched the few birds circling overhead and the car that passed him every now and then.

A couple cars were in the parking lot of the ice rink when Yuuri showed up. He checked his phone, noticing the message notification, and went inside. It was only a little bit before the free skate time was up. Then he would have the rink all to himself. The door slid open, a bell chiming somewhere in the store.

“Welcome to Hasetsu Ice Castle! I’m sorry but free skate—Yuuri!” Yuuko looked up from the skates she was cleaning. “You’re going to skate today?”

“Yeah.” he said. Out of habit, he picked up some of the skates and wiped them down. He folded the laces and put them inside the skates.

“Takeshi’s cleaning the ice right now. So it will be good and fresh for you!”

He finished with another pair of skates and smiled. “Thanks Yuuko-chan.”

“Of course! I love watching you skate and the girls enjoy it as well.”

“Are they around today?”

“I’m sure that they’ll appear once they hear your music. Are you working on new material for next season yet?”

A light flush came to his cheeks. “No I’m still thinking on some things.”

“Oh.” Yuuko’s smile tightened but she tried to smooth it back out. “Well, at least you’re staying in practice! I’ll come out to watch after I finish up here, okay?”

“Sure.” He gave a small wave and moved towards the locker room off to the right. The last of the customers gathered their things and left. A few older ones recognized Yuuri and wished him luck with next season’s skating. They said they were looking forward to his comeback. Thanking them politely, Yuuri tried to keep to himself as much as possible. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to compete for the Grand Prix again this year, but he just didn’t know if he would be able to even come close after the disaster that was last season.

 

Lacing up his skates, he let out a heavy sigh. Grabbing his speaker and phone, he walked out to the rink. The rubber covers on his blades made little muted squeaks against the rubber of the floor. Takeshi was just driving the Zamboni off the rink when Yuuri made it there. He stretched some, loosening his legs and his back. He took his guards off his blades, placing them on a bench near the door. The ice was smooth under the sharpened blades and Yuuri moved effortlessly across it.

It felt good to be back on the ice. He hadn’t been to the rink in a couple weeks. Since he’d gotten back from Detroit, things had been a little weird for him. After the crushing defeat at the last Grand Prix, he’d taken five years to try and lick his wounds. But he hadn’t gotten better and he felt like competitive skating was not for him.

He slowly slid to a stop in the middle of the rink. It all seemed silly. He had devoted his life to skating. When he was young he would think of being on the ice every hour of the day. School was tough because he could never concentrate on what his professors were saying. It was hard to make friends since he didn’t watch tv or read manga. The only ones at school he really talked to were Yuuko and Takeshi. When he had finally got into a college that would let him skate, it was like a dream. He was able to study subjects that were important to him. Music, art, dance, and he could skate every day for hours. It was everything he had needed. 

Yuuri shook himself out of that. Those times were in the past—he was done skating. He didn’t have a coach, music, or any idea of a program to choreograph. No one would miss him from the circuit anyway. He was only known for his stamina and nothing notable or impressive. He didn’t have difficult programs like Yuri Plisetsky, or an adult eroticism like Christophe, and he never surprised anyone like Viktor always did. He picked his phone up, taking a swig from his water bottle. There wasn’t much need for a response to quadflipvik’s message so he opened the video link that he’d sent. The music for the program opened and the spotlight settled on the form in the center of the rink.

The image of a younger Viktor sent Yuuri’s heart racing. That had been when Yuuri was 11 and Viktor was already climbing the ranks of the ice skating world at 14. The video was from a European circuit competition. Yuuri remembered it well—he’d been there after all. His mother had promised to take him to the finals if he was in the top ten of his class on final exams. It was a long, hard-fought battle but Yuuri had pulled through. Paris was as gorgeous as Yuuri could have dreamed, but it was the posters of Viktor’s glittering silhouette all over the city that let him fall in love with it.  He remembered bits and pieces of the other skaters—many of whom had not lasted within the competition circuit. That performance was what inspired Yuuri to go into professional competition skating.

At that competition, his mother had gone to the restroom afterwards. It had been chaotic with all the people and reporters milling about. Yuuri was in the middle of everything, being bumped and pushed around by all the people. He fell when a woman’s bag smacked him in the back. The floor scrapped his palms and his ankle throbbed with the awkward way he’d fallen on it. Tears pricked at his eyes and he just wished his mother was back.

Someone asked him a question, but it was in a language he didn’t know. The words were coarse and abrupt, guttural in the sounds.

“Yipponski?” They asked. “Are you Japanese?”

The sudden use of Japanese, albeit slow and a little unsure, made Yuuri look up. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Viktor Nikiforov was crouching in front of him. There was still glitter on his eyelids and his hair was pulled back in a soft ponytail. His red Russia jacket was loose on his body. His smile was like starlight.

“Japanese yes?” he asked again.

Yuuri could only nod numbly.

“Are you alone?”

“N-No.” Yuuri said when he finally found his voice. “Toilet.”

“Oh? You need the restroom?”

“No!” his face exploded in a splotchy blush. “My mom is there.”

Viktor held his hand out to Yuuri, hands delicate and manicured to perfection. “Shall we go wait for her?”

His hands were soft and warm with a surprising gentle strength to them as they walked to the bathroom. The trip there, Yuuri eventually got over himself. He started to talk about Viktor’s program. Although it was awkward at times when he had to try and explain through his excitement in simpler terms. Viktor’s Japanese wasn’t that good as he’d only studied the basics in order to survive during competition there. But Yuuri’s passion came through in the conversation and grand gestures of his hands. It was a moment Yuuri didn’t think he would ever forget.

 

Although thinking back on it now, as a 23-year old man, he was pretty embarrassed from the whole thing. It had been more than ten years since it happened though. More than likely Viktor had long forgotten the encounter. Yuuri closed the video then propped his phone up on the side of the rink. He set the phone to record and bent down in front of it.

“Hey!” he waved awkwardly to the camera. “I’ve been working on this for awhile. Tell me what you think?”

He skated off camera for a second, going to turn the music on for the program. Then he moved to the center of the rink and waited for the cue sound. Letting all distractions fall from him, he let his body be taken by the music and the ice. He skated to Viktor’s most recent Grand Prix program. It was hard to ignore the way the song pulled at Yuuri’s heart. How the idea of “Stay Close to Me” made him feel longing for a stranger behind the screen. He’d never met someone other than Yuuko who shared his passion for skating. At least, until he’d started talking with quadflipvik on the skating forum site. It was strange, but Yuuri never felt it was unnatural. As he finished the program, chest rising and falling from his effort, the flush to his cheeks was more than just exertion.

The website was catered towards fans of the professional figure skating world. There were all sorts of message boards and discussion forums where fans could talk about what was going on in competition skating. While Yuuri had originally joined the site to see what people were saying about his own skating in order to improve it, he’d found a huge fanbase towards Viktor there. Which, of course he would with how internationally popular Viktor was. The place was a goldmine for rare footage of Viktor—interviews, photoshoots, practice and performance pieces. Yuuri found a place he could unabashedly show his interest in the skater on the site.

A couple months into using it, he noticed a particular username would always pop up in the discussion threads. They were obviously a fan of Viktor and had a great sense on his personality and professionalism. The username “quadflipvik” was a pretty big tip off as well. Yuuri thought it was cute and a nice little homage to Viktor. Their profile picture was a headshot of Viktor attending some sort of celebratory banquet. He was dressed in a sharp, dark grey suit that complimented his skin and made his eyes sparkle like the ice he skated on. There wasn’t much information on the profile other than gender and age. It was all the same as Viktor’s so Yuuri figured that it was a younger fan attempting to remain anonymous.

One day Yuuri received a message. He’d never gotten a direct message on the site before so it took him a little time to find it. The alert was a feature on his phone that he couldn’t get rid of for at least an hour. It didn’t help that he had gotten the message the night before he had practice. So he wasn’t able to really mess around with the forum’s mobile app on his phone. The little notification distracted Yuuri all day and he had trouble landing any of his jumps. His coach noticed and sent him home early with a stern warning to take care of himself.

When he was finally able to open the message—embarrassed that he’d had such a hard time in the first place with the app—he saw it was from quadflipvik. The subject line read “RE: Viktor Nikiforov’s fourth GP victory.” Yuuri frowned at the message and opened it. Turns out that it was in response to Yuuri’s comment on a video that had been posted a few weeks ago. He’d forgotten about that comment since then. But it had resonated with quadflipvik enough to prompt them into sending Yuuri a message. The two had quickly developed a friendship through messages on the site.

Remembering how their relationship had started made Yuuri smile. He waited for his phone to compress the video so that he could attach it. The app showed an ice skate spinning as it loaded the opening screen.

 **_KatsudOnIce_ ** _sent you a video!_

 **KatsudOnIce:** Finally got back to the rink today!

 **KatsudOnIce:** I hope you enjoy it. ^_^

 

Yuuri looked up at the sound of clapping. Yuuko had come in at some point and was standing at the rink’s entrance.

“Yuuri! That was so amazing! You’ve been working on that for years!” she grinned. “You even landed the quad flip!”

He couldn’t help the blush that covered his face. “Thanks. I thought I would over-rotate it in all honesty.”

“You got it on video right?” she moved over to where he was. “Let me see!”

“Ah! No! Yuuko!” he tried to stop her from grabbing the phone from his hands. But she took it easily. Her expression faltered as she saw the messages. Yuuri belatedly realized that it had to be around seven or eight in the morning for the other person.

“Sorry.” she said, having the grace to look embarrassed. “I didn’t realize—“

“It’s okay.” Yuuri shook his head. He took the phone back from her. Glancing to see if he had somehow received a response, he sighed with disappointment.

“Who is that?”

“Do you remember that skating community site I told you about?” he started to skate around the rink to cool his muscles down. His voice bounced off the high ceilings of the place.

“The girls use it religiously.”

“It’s someone from there.”

“And you talk to them often?”

He felt the blush returning to his cheeks and decided he would try and blame it on the brisk temperature inside should anyone ask. “You could say that?”

“Are they cute?” her mouth pulled into a devilish grin.

“I—don’t know.” he said after a pause. He let himself glide along the ice with his momentum.

“What? How long have you been talking?”

“A few months I guess.”

“A few months?” she repeated. “You don’t even know what they look like? Do you at least know if they’re male or female?”

Yuuri rubbed his forearm and chipped at the ice with his toe pick. “Does it matter?”

“I guess it doesn’t.” she frowned. “I’m just worried about you Yuuri. You disappeared for five years in Detroit. You aren’t working on anything for the upcoming season. Have you given up on skating?”

“Yuuko—that’s not—“ he turned to face her but couldn’t find any words. “I’m sorry about Detroit. It’s just—I didn’t know how to face you all yet. You had all supported me through everything and I blew it at the most crucial moment. I didn’t even make it to the podium!”

She stared at him, warm eyes open and glistening with emotion. “Yuuri—“ she broke off with a small laugh. “Did you think we would be mad?”

“Well—“

“You’ve always been silly like that.” she held her hands out to him and he reluctantly closed the space between them. She slid her hands into his gloved palms, giving him a gentle squeeze.

“Yuuri listen to me. Me, your mom, everyone here in Hasetsu—we want you to be happy. It made us so _proud_ to have you represent the country like you did. Sure we wanted you to bring home gold for us, but no one’s mad that you didn’t. Plus that was years ago! Think of everything you’ve learned since then and all the progress you’ve made! Does skating still make you happy like it used to?”

He could only nod. With a smile, she squeezed his palms again.

“Then skate for _you_ , not anyone else. Be the Yuuri Katsuki that you’ve always wanted to be. Can you promise me that?”

“I think so.” his smile was wobbly but not ill-intended. “Thanks Yuuko.”

She let out a breath that she felt she had been holding for years. “And about this mystic messenger person?” he flinched as he waited for her judgement. “I hope they make you as happy as skating does.”

He stared at her for a moment. Then he felt the easy grin stretch his lips. “They do.”

 

 

**quadflipvik** : have you decided which days of the Tokyo con you want to go to?

**KatsudOnIce:** I think the first two days will be best for me.

 **quadflipvik:** ok! i’ll book my plane ticket and hotel and get my passes tonight! ))

 **KatsudOnIce:** If you don’t want to spend a ton of money, you could stay here and fly out of the local airport.

 **quadflipvik:** stay with you? yuuri do you live alone?

 **quadflipvik:** oh my heart is beating so fast! <3 <3

Yuuri laughed at the message. He ignored the way his stomach rolled at the thought.

 **KatsudOnIce:** My family runs an inn in Hasetsu. At the time of the convention I don’t think we will be too busy.

 **quadflipvik:** oh

 **quadflipvik:** and here i thought i would be able to spend a quiet night with yuuri

 **quadflipvik:** i got excited

 **KatsudOnIce:** Do you really like me that much?

 **quadflipvik:** if i was in front of you now i doubt i would be able to contain myself

 **KatsudOnIce:** You don’t even know me.

He held his breath. It was late. The baths were long closed. HIs parents had gone to bed hours ago. Even Mari had turned her late-night tv off and turned in for the night. Yuuri spent the last few hours messaging quadflipvik. They talked of mundane things—skating, Yuuri’s poodle Vicchan, their favorite things. It was unreal to have such an easy relationship with someone. When his phone pulsed in his hand, it startled him.

 **quadflipvik:** i know enough about you yuuri

 **quadflipvik:** you are honest, hard-working, your own worst critic

 **quadflipvik:** you like ballet even though you never took a formal lesson, you are loving and loyal

 **quadflipvik:** not to mention you mess up when you skate because you’re always thinking too much

 **quadflipvik:** it’s written all over your face ))

Yuuri covered his mouth to keep his gasp in. He dropped the phone like it was on fire and turned away from it. Tucking his head under his pillow, he attempted to control his breathing. His heart was beating out of control, thudding against his ribcage like thunder. It took him a minute to calm himself back down.

As he had read the messages, the voice in his head was Viktor. This was something he noticed a few weeks ago. Whenever he got a message from them, he imagined it was Viktor he was talking to. Since he never got a picture or a video from the person, Yuuri was left to create a persona for them. Their profile picture was a selfie of Viktor with his poodle Makkachin. He was wrapped in a sweater and Makkachin had a lopsided santa hat on. They’d changed it after Halloween to it. So somewhere along the line, all the messages had turned into Viktor’s voice.

Yuuri knew it wasn’t possible for multiple reasons. The first was since the website was based out of Japan, everything in it was Japanese. There was a small population of Korean and Chinese users, but they mostly kept to themselves. Another reason was that the website wasn’t popular enough for Viktor to have heard of it. Plus, even if Viktor was somehow on the website and knew enough Japanese to get around, there was no way he would message someone like _Yuuri_. It was a small world, but it wasn’t that small.

He opened his eyes and realized that he had dozed off for a while. There were a couple messages waiting for him when he turned back over.

 **quadflipvik:** yuuri?

 **quadflipvik:** oh sorry it’s pretty late for you isn’t it!

 **quadflipvik:** go to sleep! i’ll talk to you tomorrow )

There was a twenty minute gap between then and the last message.

 **quadflipvik:** i hope i didn’t scare you. but i do think very highly of you and i would go so far as to say you’re special to me. i hope we get to meet at the convention!

Yuuri stared at the screen until it went black from inactivity. He didn’t respond. Instead he said a small apology in his head and clutched his phone tightly to his chest. That’s how he fell asleep that night, curled around his phone and visions of someone doing the same somewhere else in the world swirling behind his eyelids.

 

The convention was in three days. Yuuri had his Shinkansen ticket, capsule hotel reservation, and convention entrance badges. They were in an envelope sitting on top of his dresser. Every day when he woke up, his eyes would fall on the manilla envelope and his stomach would clench. Quadflipvik had disappeared from the messenger a few days prior. They’d said that there were some things they had to take care of before heading out. Each day Yuuri checked to see if there was a new reservation from a name he didn’t recognize, but there never was one.

The night before he packed his bag. A little suitcase that he could leave at the capsule hotel and his daypack. It was a little cross body pack that he could put his wallet and badges in, along with any merchandise he might pick up. He even had a little pad and a handful of pens in case he ran into any skaters or coaches that people had requested autographs from. While it was mostly a fan-oriented event, Yuuri did know a few of the skaters that would be appearing on panels and things. The event hadn’t posted who they were getting for the Champion’s Panel. But the company putting on the event usually got pretty high profile skaters for their panels. There was even a rumor that Viktor Nikiforov had been seen making preparations to leave Russia for an undisclosed amount of time.

It was odd that the Champion’s Panel was scheduled for the first day. One would think the convention would do better to put it on the second or last day. Perhaps the coordinators were thinking that if they opened the event with a bang, more fans would be encouraged to come for all three days. It wasn’t as if the badges were expensive, but being in Tokyo the money could rack up pretty quickly. Yuuri had been able to pull some strings and get a discount on his badges in exchange for sitting on a couple panels. They were small panels at weird times in the event so he didn’t think too many people would show up. Even if they did, he predicted that he would be able to not stand out too much with the other people sitting on the panel.

There were still no messages from quadflipvik the morning of the convention. They’d let Yuuri know when they were getting on the plane, but since then it had been silence. His foot tapped impatiently on the ground of the Shinkansen platform. It was a large area in the Osaka Station. He’d had to get up early to get local trains from Hasetsu to Osaka before he’d been able to jump onto the main line. That alone had already been two hours of train travel. He’d munched through a good portion of his snacks before even making it to Osaka Station. Luckily, there were all sorts of vendors with boxed lunches on the Shinkansen platform. He grabbed a cheap one with fried chicken and rice to hold him over. Yuuri also noted a few of the vendors that had gifts that he would want to pick up on his way home.

When he finally made it to Tokyo Station, Yuuri was ready to collapse. Travel was always pretty exhausting. Had he taken a plane it would have been shorter at least. But to keep it cost effective, the train saved him at least a little bit of money. Unfortunately, that meant he had to weather the stresses of commoner travel. His mother had offered to buy him a plane ticket as a sort of early birthday and Christmas present. While he knew the inn was doing well-enough, he still had plenty in his own savings.

He checked his phone as he waited for the next train out to Komagome. The Yamamoto line ran a train every seven minutes or so, meaning one would be coming fairly soon. His face lit up when he saw the notification of new messages. There was one from his mother asking to let her know when he was settled in. Minako sent one asking for specific treats from different train stations. But the one he was most anticipating was from quadflipvik.

 **quadflipvik:** finally we’re in the same time zone (*^^*)

 **KatsudOnIce:** Then your flight got in?

 **quadflipvik:** yup! in a taxi on the way to the hotel now!

 **KatsudOnIce:** Where are you staying?

“Train approaching. Please stay behind the yellow lines. Train approaching.”

Yuuri looked up and moved to the side so as not to be in the way of any departing passengers. A couple businessman and a few students got off. Yuuri stayed close to the door, leaning against the wall and edge railing of the seats.

 **quadflipvik:** whatever hotel is connected tot he convention center.

 **KatsudOnIce:** How did you manage that? The room must be so expensive!

 **quadflipvik:** it’s not a big deal. makes it easier to go to the con and not mess with trains

 **KatsudOnIce:** Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. I guess the trains can be a little complicated for foreigners.

 **quadflipvik:** yeah and i got a great deal on the room ))

 **KatsudOnIce:** Glad to hear it!

He checked in to the capsule hotel and fell in his capsule. The beige, plastic walls of the bottom capsule calmed him. He felt how tired he was in the marrow of his bones. His glasses were put on the small shelf in the capsule. He plugged his phone in to charge and sent a message to his mother. Then he opened his messenger to read whatever quadflipvik had sent him.

 **quadflipvik:** do you want to meet tonight? ))

 **quadflipvik:** i won’t be able to get away until after the champion’s panel

 **quadflipvik:** but i would love to get dinner with you?

 **quadflipvik:** i don’t know any places around here 笑

 **quadflipvik:** oh! i could ask the concierge for recommendations  
****

**quadflipvik:** we might need a reservation for some places though and i didn’t bring my suit

 **KatsudOnIce:** Getting dinner after the Champion’s panel sounds good. Don’t worry about finding a restaurant. I know the area that the convention center is in from school. There are a few places I have in mind we could go to.

 **KatsudOnIce:** And you won’t need a suit 笑

 **quadflipvik:** then i’ll see you tonight!!!!

 **quadflipvik:** i can’t wait

 **quadflipvik:** ugh six hours is too long now

 **KatsudOnIce:** We’ve been talking for months. I think you can manage a few hours.

 **quadflipvik:** yeah but i don’t waaaaaaant to wait! T^T

 **KatsudOnIce:** Hang in there a little bit longer.

With a nervous roll of his stomach, Yuuri set an alarm on his phone. He needed to take a little bit of a nap before going out again. Besides, he didn’t think he would be able to calm down if he didn’t. His dreams were riddled with long-haired figures moving gracefully across ice.

 

As expected, the Champion’s Panel was completely full. Yuuri was lucky he had gone in early and had a higher clearance badge than others attending. He wasn’t quite VIP, but as a panel speaker he had a little more leeway. Which is how he found himself in the second row of the panel, staring right at the place card with the name “Viktor Nikiforov” straight in front of him. Apparently it had been a last minute addition. Someone from the convention had seen his name on purchasing an event badge and asked him to attend the panel. 

Yuuri, ever uncomfortable in social situations, hid in his phone. The doors to the event hall were closed and people took their seats. Lights dimmed and the spotlights came up on the panel seats.

 **KatsudOnIce:** Are you here?

He looked around at all the people in the room. The scary part was that one of them would be quadflipvik. A person he had been talking to through the internet for months. Someone that Yuuri thought he might be falling for, even without ever having met them. It was frustrating and scary all at the same time because it was so new and unexpected for him. He swallowed the lump suddenly in his throat and tried to gulp down some water. He looked up as people started screaming around him and the panel guests began filing in.

There were some older champions from the Grand Prix circuit, but since Viktor had won the past five years, they had all retired by the time Yuuri had entered it. When Viktor came in, smiling and waving to the people and cameras, Yuuri felt his heart thud in his chest. He flicked his phone up to check the screen. When there weren’t any new messages, he bit his lower lip to try and quell his disappointment and anxiety. Although he tried not to let it get to him since the panel had a strict no-phones policy. Some press and bloggers were afforded special recording privileges but other than that, guests were asked to turn their phones off.

The panel went without any hiccups. All the guests were gracious to each other and no one hogged the airspace. Even Viktor yielded to some of the older guests there. It did get interesting when one audience member asked a direct question to Viktor.

“This question is for Mr. Nikiforov.” she said timidly into the microphone. She had her cellphone out and Yuuri noticed that the case was one of Viktor’s old performance costumes. “There have been a lot of rumors circulating about this. Are you currently seeing anyone?” Her face exploded into a blush and many of the other audience members squealed with delight.

Viktor blinked at her for a moment as the other panel members laughed to themselves. He cleared his throat and chuckled nervously.

“No, I’m not currently involved with anyone.”

It was weird for Yuuri to hear Viktor’s Japanese. He still remembered that broken and stunted speech that he’d used in their encounter when he was younger. Now it was smooth, and practiced, with cadences that held a bit of guttural Russian in them.

“C’mon now Viktor!” one of the other guests said, “You’ve gotta have someone you’ve got your eye on. You’ve never had a scandal or anything. You’re not too focused on your work are you?”

The guest to Viktor’s left clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re still so young! I know for a fact there are people throwing themselves at your feet!”

“Well—“ Viktor scratched his cheek, that was rapidly reddening in a blush, “There is someone—“

The room erupted in squeals and questions were being shouted from every direction. The event coordinators tried to bring order back to the room. But the buzz of the reveal kept the energy high for the rest of the panel. Anytime the questions started to turn back to Viktor’s interest, he found some way to divert the question elsewhere.

 

Yuuri was pushed around when exiting the event hall. He felt a nervous flush heating his cheeks and his chest felt like it was constricting. It was hard for him to breathe. He took a moment, leaning against a wall, to catch his breath again and calm the dizziness starting. His phone was still off when he pulled it out of his pocket. Many of the guests around him were starting to go to the after-party. The Champion’s Panel had been the last panel event of the first day, leaving the rave in the grand hall. 

When he turned his phone back on, it buzzed with messages.

 **quadflipvik:** yes! i’m here!

 **quadflipvik:** sorry i didn’t see your message sooner!!

 **quadflipvik:** where should we meet?

 **quadflipvik:** i found a spot!

 **_quadflipvik_ ** _sent you a picture!_

 **quadflipvik:** i’ll be waiting! ))

Yuuri opened the photo and recognized it. Quadflipvik had sent a photo of one of the main event banners. Of course it had a picture of Viktor in last year’s Grand Prix Final. Yuuri knew where it was because he had taken a selfie in front of it to update his Twitter feed. It was also currently his profile photo for the messaging forum. He made his way to the meeting spot, feeling his heartbeat quicken with each step. It was equal parts excitement and anxiety at the upcoming meeting.

The crowd thickened and Yuuri had trouble making his way through. He could see the sign overhead. It was difficult to look over the heads of all the people there. It was weird considering that the area wasn’t near the grand hall or even an exit. It was an awkward place, not even near the bathrooms. So then why were there so many people there?

 **KatsudOnIce:** I’m here. Where are you?

 **KatsudOnIce:** There are so many people, I can’t see you.

 **quadflipvik:** i’m waving!!!

Yuuri squinted into the crowd. Directly under the banner he could see a hand stretching up over the crowd. He pushed his way through the people.

 **KatsudOnIce:** I think I see you. Stay there. I’m almost through.

He took a few more steps and the crowd opened up. The sudden lack of resistance made him stumble forward. Hands shot out, strong and warm against his shoulders. They steadied him before he could fall.

“Thank you—“ Yuuri said, turning his face up to look at who saved him.

Viktor smiled warmly back at him. “You found me!”

The world went silent for a moment. Yuuri’s brain short circuited and all he could think of was the point of contact between him and Viktor’s hands. Sounds rushed back to him in a scramble of the blood thrumming in his ears, people yelling around them, the click of camera shutters snapping. Viktor’s hand slid into Yuuri’s as he leaned forward. The breath on Yuuri’s neck was hot and sent shivers down his back.

“Run!” Viktor whispered.

“Wha—“ Before Yuuri could respond, Viktor was pulling him into motion.

 

Together they pushed through the screaming fans and raced through the convention space. Camera flashes surrounded them and blinded Yuuri. His grip tightened instinctively on Viktor’s and he allowed himself to be lead. They made it to a service entrance that Viktor pushed open and pulled Yuuri in. It was a fire stairwell. Viktor leaned back against the door and pressed his ear to it. His chest heaved with his breaths and a healthy sweat was on his forehead. Yuuri felt his own lungs trying to get as much oxygen to his blood as possible. 

As the sounds of the crowd chasing them faded away, Viktor turned towards Yuuri. He smiled, brilliantly and purely. Yuuri didn’t know there was something quite so good in this world. It was wonderful and terrifying all at once.

“I’m so glad we finally get to meet in person!” Viktor yelled, scooping Yuuri up into a tight hug.

“Wait! What do you mean?” Yuuri pushed away from him.

Viktor frowned, his smile faltering ever so slightly. “It’s me.”

“You’re—you’re quadflipvik?” Yuuri’s voice his an incredulously high note.

“That’s right!” The victory in his expression returned. “I thought you knew that.”

“Of course I didn’t know that!” Yuuri pushed a hand through his hair. He felt his palm come away damp with a nervous sweat.

“Wasn’t it obvious? I mean my pictures were all of me and my profile has all my information.”

“I thought—I thought you were a fan.”

Viktor laughed. “I didn’t think I would have to tell you! Yuuri you’re so slow.”

“Then all this time—I was talking to Viktor Nikiforov?”

“Yep!”

Yuuri stared at Viktor and his smile. It was unreal. “Am I dreaming?”

“If you are I’m so glad that I get to be in it.”

“Hold on, I—I need a second.”

“Take all the time you need.” Viktor leaned back against the door, adopting an easy stance. His arms folded nonchalantly across his chest and he smiled warmly.

Yuuri began pacing. “Quadflipvik is Viktor Nikiforov. I’ve been talking to Viktor Nikiforov for months. Viktor Nikiforov wanted to see me. Viktor Nikiforov is _right in front of me._ ”

“Don’t forget that Viktor Nikiforov is considering being in love with you too.”

“Viktor Nikiforov might be—What?” Yuuri wheeled on Viktor.

He tilted his head thoughtfully. “I said you were special to me. I’ve been thinking about a lot since then.”

“But—I mean—love? Viktor that’s too much, even for you.”

“Okay, love might be a bit much. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to try it out.” Viktor was pouting, his lips pulling down into a childlike expression. 

“I don’t know about all this.” Yuuri sighed, as if he couldn’t get rid of his stress any other way. “I mean we hardly know each other. I’ve skated against you and I guess now we’ve talked for awhile but—“

“Would you be willing to at least try?”

“Try what?”

Viktor chewed on his lower lip. His gaze was downcast when he next spoke, “Dating me?”

The air hung heavy and silent between them. Viktor didn’t press anything and let Yuuri take his time. The Japanese man took a minute. He considered the thoughts swirling around in his head. It felt like an hour before Yuuri spoke.

“I can’t.” he whispered. “Our positions are too different.”

“What do you mean?” an edge of desperation had leaked into Viktor’s voice. “What’s changed between us?”

“Well, it’s that—I mean it’s because of who you are.”

“Then answer me this at least—“ Viktor took a breath. He seemed to be struggling with himself. “What did you think of quadflipvik? When you thought I was just a fan?”

“I—“ Yuuri stopped. “I liked you.”

“Then it shouldn’t matter who I am—“

“—but it does matter! Don’t you see that?” Yuuri hissed. “Can’t you understand that?”

“What do I have to do to make you see I want this?” He waved his hand between them agitatedly. It was odd for Yuuri to see Viktor losing his cool like this. “Do you want me to move to Japan? Be your coach? Stop skating?”

“ _How can you even say that?”_

Viktor flinched like he had been slapped. Yuuri’s shout bounced off the stairwell’s walls.

“I could never let you throw away your career! Especially not for me!”

“That’s how serious I am about you, Yuuri! Please just see that.” Viktor’s voice softened as he spoke. The energy and desperation had tore through him and left him exhausted. His shoulders slumped and even his brilliant blue eyes seemed to dull.

“Viktor I—“ Yuuri swallowed hard. “I can’t let you ruin yourself for me.”

“Then don’t let me regret falling for you.” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t return my feelings. I’ll understand. I’m a man after all—“

Yuuri laughed dryly. “That’s not the problem.”

“Okay. Then, maybe we start slow? Now that you know who I am—“

He sighed and rubbed his hands together, a nervous habit that he’d picked up in the last few years.

“Fine.” he resigned. “Slowly then. We do this at my pace, okay?”

“Okay!” Viktor’s shine returned to him.

“I can’t make any promises.” Yuuri said after a moment. “But, I’ll give you the time and thought that you deserve, all right?”

Viktor nodded, his hair swishing in strands of starlight.

Yuuri couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips. To see Viktor getting so emotional over him, he would be lying to say it didn’t make his heart swell. For a moment, Yuuri thought that he would like to pull more emotions and expressions from him. It left him feeling strangely breathless.

“Do you still want to get dinner?” Viktor asked.

“Yes, but you have to promise to keep a low profile.”

“I promise!”

“Then—“ Yuuri thought for a moment, considering the nearby restaurants. “How do you feel about katsudon?”

“I’ve never had it.” Viktor’s smile softened and his eyes glittered. “But I have a feeling I’m going to love it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Little text messaging things! When you see the ) at the end of a sentence, that's a Russian thing when they message! It's a smiley face! Somehow along the lines Russians stopped putting the rest of the face in their messages and now they just send ) instead. Also the symbol 笑 is the Japanese character in the word "laugh." It's the Japanese text equivalent of "lol"
> 
> Much love and many thanks!  
> Cordially yours,  
> [SterlingAg](http://untarnished-sterlingag.tumblr.com/)


End file.
